River Pollution
DoE stops operation of two factories, fines Tk 65 lakh
The Department of Environment (DoE) yesterday stopped operation of two dyeing factories and fined them around Tk 65 lakh for discharging untreated liquid waste into the Dhaleshwari and Bangshi rivers.
Both the factories--Oli Knitting and Dyeing Industry and Jhumka Textile Mill--at Karnapara and Ganokbari in Savar have effluent treatment plants (ETP) installed but the authorities do not operate those to reduce their production cost. “These factories have released over two lakh cubic metres of untreated liquid waste into the rivers,” said Mohammed Munir Chowdhury, director (monitoring and enforcement) of the DoE.
The DoE officials found that Oli Knitting was releasing stinky blackish water into the Bangshi river while untreated red-coloured waste from Jhumka Textile was being channelled into the Karnapara canal that leads to the Dhaleshwari river, witnesses said.
The officials, accompanied by a team of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), tested the toxic waste and detected that oxygen level was only 3.14 mg per litre and pH level 9.4.
The factory authorities also failed to produce environmental clearance certificates before the team.
Both the industries fall under red category according to the existing Environment Conservation Act and it is a must for them to obtain the clearance certificate.
Kazi Anwar Hossain, former Jatiya Party lawmaker of Brahmanbaria-5, is the owner of Oli Knitting, which had been in operation for the last 13 years while Jhumka Textile was set up a year ago.
Locals said pollution by these industries has ruined the biodiversity of rivers, canals and other swampland in the area.
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